Is PVRIS’ Lynn Gunn the Next Hayley Williams?

Artists

Share

Ever since Paramore’s Hayley Williams dubbed the title of ‘most powerful woman in the rock universe’, there haven’t been any strong contenders both gutsy and good enough to challenge her throne, until now. Though I believe that Hayley will always reign supreme, I do believe that Lynn Gunn has become the recent generation’s equivalent of her.

Much like Hayley, Gunn is the frontman of a 3 person band called PVRIS. She has the ability to be extremely angelic with her high falsettos, but also has the ability to get down and gritty with the tone of her voice. Her voice has similar elements to Hayley’s, but it is still uniquely her own. The thing that really strikes a similarity between the two is the amount of success they gained at a very early stage in their career. Just recently, PVRIS had their first performance on the Jimmy Kimmel show, which opened them up to a whole new audience and realm of opportunities. Ultimately, PVRIS has risen to the top of their game, much like Paramore in the past, with the unique addition of electronic elements to their music and the sttrikability of Gunn’s vocals.

Gunn with her band PVRIS.

Gunn stated in a past interview with Alt Press that she looks up to Hayley and Paramore. She said, “I won’t lie, I’m a very big Paramore fan, and I met Hayley and she said some very nice things and we had a nice little talk”(Alt Press). It’s clear that Gunn has her influences, but she is now paving her own way with her unique voice. It’s clear that she has a voice that can be suitable for both pop and rock records, but she combines the two of them together in the best way possible. This is very similar to Williams who though plays with rock and punk sounds in many of her discography with Paramore, went more pop for her song, “Stay The Night” with Zedd. Gunn isn’t limited by a specific genre.The sky is the limit for her range and sound, especially after hearing her cover of Sia’s, “Chandelier.” Hear her rock out with her silky smooth yet powerful vocals in the cover below.

Though it’s not right, it’s a fact that there are few bands with females as lead singers that make it big in the various rock genres. Hayley is arguably one of the most successful, but it looks like someone else is gunning for her and I mean that in an extremely non-threatening way. Plus, I couldn’t resist the pun. Gunn is the first female vocalist to have me extremely enamored with her craft since I first heard Paramore in 2005 and that says a lot about her as an artist. Bridges are doing anything but burning for Gunn, they are feverishly being built for her and for the record, she’s not just competing with the boys, she’s annihilating them just like Hayley did back in the day.

As I said before, Hayley will always be first and foremost the most powerful female vocalist in rock in my opinion, because she inspired many to follow in her footsteps. However, I’m glad that Gunn is carrying on the tradition of running with the boys in a male dominated genre and giving them a run for their money. She’s not quite yet on the level of Hayley Williams, but I have no doubt that in a few years she’ll be the queen of the house.